Posted on 04/29/2006 3:37:39 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The owner of an Andrews-area convenience store, accused of taking the law into his own hands after he witnessed an alleged gas drive off Wednesday, is charged with two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. Dennis Cooper, 52, the owner of Cooper’s Six Mile Crossing Convenience Store allegedly chased and then fired shots at a vehicle after the driver reportedly drove off without paying for $28 worth of gas.
According to an incident report, the ordeal began about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when 18-year-old Joshua Jennings, of Gray Court, S.C., and 18-year-old Jacob Skelly, of Fountain Inn stopped and pumped gas into the truck they were driving.
Cooper, who was inside the store, saw them start to drive away before they walked inside to pay, so he allegedly jumped in his SUV and gave chase.
The suspects drove down Highway 521 and onto Kent Road headed toward Highway 17A. When they got close to that intersection, Jennings and Skelly saw Cooper coming up behind them.
“This is when Cooper began firing shots at them as they turned left on US 17A and then right on Highway 521 trying to avoid the gunshots,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Neil Johnson said. “Cooper continued to chase and fire shots striking the vehicle in the back glass.”
When Skelly, the passenger, began screaming he had been shot, Jennings pulled over.
Deputy Kevin Holt was the first officer on the scene. When he arrived he saw Cooper holding the two men on the ground at gunpoint. Skelly, who was bleeding from his head, “was begging to get treatment from EMS,” Holt reported. When the medical team arrived, it was determined Skelly had not been hit by a bullet but by glass from the broken truck window. He was transported to the hospital for treatment. Jennings was uninjured. There was one bullet hole in Jennings’ truck, according to Johnson.
Jennings said when he stopped his truck, he tried to check on Skelly but Cooper “slapped him in the head, so he got down on the ground,” Holt’s report states. All three men were arrested. Jennings and Skelly were charged with for failure to pay for gasoline. Cooper’s .45 automatic was placed into evidence. He was released from jail Thursday under a $40,000 bond.
Jury nullification?
Boy, you should'a heard Mount Pleasant (south of G'town) howl about pre-pay! You gotta know what somebody was plannin'.
Thankfully were not allowed to kill people for stealing. The man is a loose cannon and part of the reason they want to take away guns from the public. You can't just whip em out and shoot whenever you want.
Thankfully were not allowed to kill people for stealing...............Depends on what state you live in.
We have no idea how many times Mr. Cooper faced same problem over and over again. Everyone have different melting point.
No, if more station owners did this then perhaps some innocent individual or individuals may have been shot. It is like crossing the no passing line and colliding with a car in the other lane. It was just plain STUPID of this gas station owner chase down these me. Get the tag # of the vehicle. Better yet, have the pumps set up so you have to go inside, pay for what you pump and the owner can set the dollar value. The pump stops, dealer gets paid and all is well and good. Now, if it was an attempted robbery in his store and he pulled his gun and shot the culprits, so be it. This guy should lose his gun license and I am sure it is no longer in his possession already.
Maybe we have to adopt muslim laws?? ;-)
Then he's an idiot for not having prepay.Heck we've had it here ever since the hurricanes jacked up prices.
Either or... you still don't get to go running down the road shooting at people for 28 bucks.
If he didn't know that the cops were hanging out at the Dunkin Donuts looking buff after their workouts at the health club, he might have taken a tag number. As it is, however, what would he do with it?
In Texas you have the right to persue the thief to recover property. The use of deadly force can be used if any other force or action would put the victim in danger. Since these kide were being chased by the victim and they refused to stop, the car chase was puting both parties plus the public in danger. It could be argued the victim had no other recourse, tht is, here in Texas. Hell, the store owner would not even had been arrested down here.
you still don't get to go running down the road shooting at people for 28 bucks...........So, when does the monetary value exeed a certain landmark when deadly force can be used. What if they steal your $10,000 Rolex and run, is it OK then?
With the stupidity of teenagers,I'm glad I don't live in Texas. I'd be dodging bullets all the day long.
It's ridiculous to be chasing people with guns blasting over small stolen goods. Most people have insurance to cover their losses.
Last I checked, when a customer drives away from the gasoline pump but declines to pay for the gasoline, the next customer to use that pump must pay on behalf of the thief. It's not fair, but life isn't fair. When caught, the thief goes to jail at hard labor for a term of years and loses his license to drive for the remainder of his life. If the thief dies before he can be apprehended or fails to serve his term, the entire remainder of the punishment passes to his heirs according to the inheritance laws of the state.
Firing those bullets is going to be a most expensive expenditure.
Expensive? Won't that be the least of his worries?
Easy to tell how you measure expense. :-)
Your list only makes it halfway through just how expensive this is likely to be for the dimwitted Cooper.
Real simple, don't steal and you don't get shot at, what is so hard to understand about that.
Then, of course, you get to do it all over again to get your change.
Any idiot who doesn't have 10,000 insured insured deserves to loose it.
But no I don't think you should be able to shoot and kill people over stolen merchandise. You put too many innocent people in danger.
No innocent people hurt in this incident, just the perps. Just keep rolling over for the thugs in this world. Today it's $28 in gas, what will it be next week or next year? How much you wanna bet they never drive off without paying again.
Pump pirating used to be a big concern in my town. At least 10% of the crime listed in the local police blotter was drive offs. Then when gas got over $2 a gallon I noticed more stores switching to pre-pay. Now I never see it listed.
This reminds me of my parents adventure as a couple of pump thieves. They filled up their motorhome while on a trip through NM. My mom got out to stretch her legs. My step-dad thought she went inside to pay for the fuel. She thought he paid at the pump because that's the way most pumps in CA (their home) are. They ended up getting pulled over by a couple of troopers about 30 miles down the road because neither of them paid for the gas. They made them drive back to the station and pay for the gas, but at least they didn't get shot for it.
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